Battery element.



PATENTED AUG. 25, 1903.

,0. B. SOHOENMEHL. BATTERY ELEMENT. APPLIOATION'IILED MAY 19, 1902 m:humus I'EYERS co vnorourun, WASNWGTOVL o. c.

" UNITED STATES Patented August 25, 1903..

PATENT OF ICE.

CHARLES B. SCHOENMEHL, OF WATERBURY, CONNECTICUT.

BATTERY ELEMENT.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N0. 737,285, dated August25, 1903.

Application filed MaylQ, 19%. SerialNo.107,955. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, CHARLES B. SOHOEN- MEHL, a citizen of the UnitedStates, and a resident of Waterbury, in the county of New Haven andState of Connecticut, have invent ed certain new and useful Improvementsin Battery Elements, of which the followingis a specification.

My invention relates to galvanic batteries, and especially todepolarizing elements therefor, which may consist of any suitablematerial that can be worked in the desired manner and to the form anddegree of hardness required.

It will be obvious to those skilled in the art that my element referredto is adapted for use in the common forms of both closed or opencircuit-batteries, wherein my element constitutes one electrode, whilesuitable zinc plates serve as the other. A caustic solution may be usedas the conducting medium, which, together with the electrode mentioned,is retained in a suitable jar. (Not shown.)

It is the object of my invention to, first, provide a negative elementfor batteries that can be employed direct Without the necessity of aspecial receptacle to retain said element, and, second, to provide andform such elements so as to get the greatest amount of power and lifeout of the same and to insure the element retaining a uniform voltaicpower, and to accomplish the. above by producing an element which islarger or thickest through it's top end where the solution is'strongestand smallest at the bottom where the solution is weakest, in this waysecuring the full amount of energy or power from the element, asisparticularly desirable in batteries of this class.

With the above objects inview my invention resides and consists in thenovel construction and formation of an element, as shown upon theaccompanying sheet of drawings,

element, however, being provided with a suspending-rodforattachment to acover.

While the individual shapes of the several forms of the invention differsomewhat, the

broadprinciple is clearly embodied in all of them. Consequentlyl do notcare to limit myself to any ofthe particular forms shown,

' since the invention is broader than that of the particular designershape illustrated, as will later be more fully explained.

My element is preferably formed of oxidof copper, which is first mixedwith suitable solutions and then compressed or molded into solid specialplate forms.

The bulk of the material on these plates is thrown to the top edge, asat A, leaving a narrow or thin edge at the bottom, as at B, forming awedgeshaped element, the side walls of which are at an angle other thana right angle to a vertical line therethrough. After the elements" aremolded they are solidified. by being compressed and baked.

The electrode may be made double, as .shown in Fig. l, or single, asshown in Figs.

vertical ribs F which adapt them for use ina frame, (not shown,) havingvertically-disposed grooves; or, if preferred, the elements can beprovided with a suspending-rod C, as shown in Fig. 3, which would serveto support them from a cover or bridge attached to the battery-jar. Withan element of this sort the surface may be reduced to a metallic state,

if desired, which is equivalent to a plating of copper, which makes themmore conductive and gives them a more substantial and desirableappearance.

A solidified element of this sort can beinserted or removed from abattery-jar easier and with less annoyance and inconvenience than any ofthe forms wherein a granulated electrode is employed within a receptacleIOC which is difficult to clean in recharging. Its further and moreimportant advantage, as originally outlined, is that of providing asolidified element larger at the top than at the bottom to insure itsentire consumption and a uniform throw of energy.

I do not wish to be limited to the exact shape of element shown in Fig.3, inasmuch as it is equally within my contemplation to employ a largeupper plate of uniform thickness and a lower and smaller plate ofuniform but less thickness, thereby, in a measure, accomplishing thesame result.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secureby Letters Patent, is-

1. A battery element, comprising a solidified and hardened flatdepolarizer plate,

broadest through its top edge.

2. A negative electrode for a battery, comprising a substantially flatsolidified copper oxid brick, widest through its top edge.

3. A battery element consisting of a depo- 1arizer,broadest through itstop edge and comprising a solidified and pressed plate of oxid ofcopper.

4. A negative element for a battery comprising a solidified platetapering from top to bottom and being of a greater thickness through itsupper edge than the lower.

5. A negative element for a battery comprising a solidified platetapering from top to bottom, being of a greater thickness through thetop edge than the lower, and having ribs on its edges.

6. A negative element for a battery, comprising a compressed plate ofoxid of copper, the same being thicker through the top than the bottom.

7. A negative element for a battery,comprisingaflatsolidifieddepolarizer-platebroadest through its top edge,and means for supporting the same from the cover or bridge of a formwhich is thicker through the top than the bottom and its exteriorsurface reduced to a metallic state.

11. A battery element comprising one or more solidifieddepolarizing-plates located one above the other, the uppermost one beingthicker than the lower one.

12. A negative element for a battery comprising compressed plates ofoxid copper arranged above each other, the uppermost one being thickerthan the lower one.

13. A negative element for a battery comprising one or more compresseddepolarizerplates arranged above each other and being larger at the topthan 'the bottom.

Signed at Bridgeport, in the county of New Haven and State ofConnecticut, this 14th day of May, A. D. 1902.

CHARLES B. SCI IOENMEHL.

Witnesses:

C. M. NEWMAN, ALEX L. DE LANEY.

